Cicero Group has more than doubled the size of its board and spread equity as it seeks to "broaden and deepen" its strength beyond financial services.

The agency has promoted five of its team to executive directors with positions on the board, which previously comprised chairman Stephen Knight; CEO Jeremy Swan; director and chief corporate counsel Iain Anderson; and executive director Mark Twigg.

The new board members are:

Tom Frackowiak, who joined Cicero in 2011 and leads the agency’s UK public affairs practice. He previously worked for the HBOS, ICAEW and an executive non-departmental public body linked to the Department of Health.

Andrew Naylor, who has been with Cicero since 2008 and heads the agency’s Asia-Pacific offering from Singapore. He previously led NovaRes, the monitoring and intelligence company, having joined from the external relations team at the Conservative Party.

Mike Robb, who joined in 2011 and heads Cicero’s corporate practice. Before Cicero he led the communications offering at Camberton Associates, having previously been part of the corporate communications team at Betfair. He also spent time in the United States on the 2004 presidential election and a US Senate race in 2006.

John Rowland, who joined Cicero in 2006 and works across practice areas. He set up Cicero’s presence in the United States in 2010, returning to London in 2013 to work across a number of clients in a range of sectors, notably in mining and extractives.

Helena Walsh, who has 11 years’ experience working on European policy. She has led Cicero’s Brussels office since joining the company in 2010. She previously worked as a Political Functionnaire on the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and at the Irish Industrial Development Agency.

Anderson said: "This is the first time we’ve widened the board beyond the founder or early stage investors. The business is maturing and we’re now well known in the market so we think now is the right time."

Anderson said that the addition of new figures "at the top table" with wider specialisms would help the agency’s efforts to broaden its offer at a time of opportunity.

Pointing to the upcoming European and general elections, as well as the Scottish Referendum, he added: "There is a lot of political risk around business at the moment, and though we’re well known for financial services we have been deepening into other market sectors over the past 18 months and that’s something we’re keen to continue."

Anderson also told PRWeek that shares sold by angel investors allowed the new board members "significant equity predication", adding: "It is the best way to empower our management team."